Google has taken the covers off its innovative 3D video calling system Beam, touting a new era of natural and immersive remote meetings.
Leveraging the foundation of the previous “Project Starline” research effort, Beam deploys a combination of advanced AI and immersive display technologies to facilitate a truly life-size, three-dimensional interaction with the person you are talking to, without the need for a headset or glasses.
Beam technology is built around a complex array of six cameras that record a user from different perspectives. Google’s custom AI volumetric video model parses this multi-perspective video feed and real-time reconstructs the individual in 3D.
This 3D-capture stream is shown on a type of light field display that gives a life-like sense of depth and presence; the sensation is so realistic that you will feel as if you were both in the same room.
Google stresses that Beam enables “nearly perfect” head tracking with millimetre-level accuracy, which should mean natural eye contact and the ability to pick up subtle non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and gestures.
The platform runs at a buttery smooth 60fps – creating a lifelike and natural experience, yet offers a virtually zero-latency interface that was made to cut down on “screen fatigue” – a symptom that many users feel is a result of 2D native video calls.
Google Beam started off as an enterprise-only business but the company has worked with HP to bring Beam devices available to market, with the first hardware to be unveiled at June’s InfoComm audio-visual tech event.
Beam has already been adopted in its early stages of development by companies like Deloitte, Salesforce, and Duolingo, which says something about the prospects for Beam to revolutionize telecommuting and business communication.
In addition, Google is developing ways for Beam to be used with popular video conferencing tools like Google Meet and Zoom to make it more widely accessible, and a seamless part of existing workflows.
The company also showed off a new real-time speech translation feature in Beam, starting with English and Spanish, with additional languages to come.
The feature is designed to break down language barriers and facilitate genuine communication despite the miles that may lie between users.
The earlier iterations of Project Starline required substantial hardware, but Google has now managed to scale the technology down to a sleeker setup that can be fitted into contemporary office settings.
Beam is a major leap forward in the evolution of video communication, giving us a tidbit of the future when digital interaction is as natural and as engaging as being there IRL. Beam’s expanded availability and pricing info will be coming out later this year.
